There is a lot of new building going on, but there seems to be a distinct lack of maintenance on some of the older buildings and roads. There were lots of potholes and similar, though i admit that the weather was only finishing been winter during my few days there, and who can say how much of the road damage was just normal winter wear and tear.

The Metros are incredible. They are cheap, about €0.20 for a trip across the city. They are regular, at high peak times there is one about every 90 seconds, and the longest i had to wait was five minutes, and that was at 8pm on a Sunday! Some of them are very deep! and the stations are all a little different.

To be honest everything was cheap. It was a city that the expensive coffee place, usually only cost me about €5 for lunch!

They have a fantastic public transport network. There are the Metros, the Trams, the Trolley buses and the Yellow buses. With all of these it is easy to get nearly anywhere in the city. However these methods of transport are not integrated, with a separate ticket having to bought for each stage of the Journey.

The city has a lot of history, some of it recent, some of it ancient, and yet they all seem to just sit together.

I really enjoyed my time in the city, though i admit that i am unlikely to return for a long time, if ever, which is a pity as i am sure i missed some things. I will however recommend that you do go, however i would suggest staying in a western tourist hotel in the city center, rather than out in the suburbs like i did.